"Free you?" she asked.
Rethen nodded, "Due to the goddess being occupied by the war, she has not had the time to free me, I have been here for quite some time, and I have already reflected on the sin I committed, I must go and aid her, but these chains have weakened me, at the moment I only possess the power of a dormant being, so I cannot free myself."
Elizabeth blinked and looked at it oddly, "I mean, that's how chains work, the whole point is to imprison you."
Rethen chuckled, "Indeed, you are right."
Elizabeth thought for a moment. She wondered if her nightmare's purpose had been to free this being and help it escape, if this was truly her trial. It had to be, yet nothing about freeing this being matched what she had seen at the start of the nightmare. She frowned.
"How do I free you?"
Rethen looked toward one of the pillars in the distance. "Those towers in the distance, they are what power the chains holding me, inside them lies the heart of a giant, each tower holds one, destroy four of those hearts and I will have enough power to break the rest."
The heart of a giant? She remembered the one-eyed giant she had seen at the start, the way it had been chained to a pillar as well, she quickly connected the dots, so they were the ones keeping the chains powered. So she truly had to kill a giant. Now the problem remained, how was she going to do that?
"Is there a way for me to kill that thing, surely its heart cannot be that easy to destroy…"
Rethen looked back at her with a thoughtful expression on its beautiful face. "You are right, you are nothing but a mere mortal, asking you to do so is nothing but a fool's quest, but I can help."
It sighed as two of the arms stopped playing the harp. Rethen looked at its hands, then took one finger and snapped it off, golden blood leaking from where the finger once was. Elizabeth stepped back, startled not because a statue could bleed, though it was strange, but because of how sudden the action was.
"What are you doing??"
Rethen ignored her and broke another finger, then another, until four were gone. It gathered the pieces in its other hand, brought them close to its mouth, and muttered words she could not understand. After a while it stopped, its palm glowing gold before the light faded.
"Come forward, child…" Rethen said, although its voice sounded faint.
It extended its hands. In the middle were four giant, identical swords, the most beautiful swords she had ever seen.
"Take them, child, use each to pierce the heart of the giants."
She stood stunned, wondering how it created swords from its fingers. He had said he was weakened to a dormant being, yet he created weapons with ease.
"How did you do it, I thought you were weakened?"
Rethen looked at her, confusion written on its face. "Are you not familiar with sorcery, child of the sea?… What has happened to the world for a child of the sea to be unfamiliar with sorcery."
Sorcery? Elizabeth's mouth fell open in surprise. She knew what sorcery was, she had learned what it was at the academy, her brother and Tessie had also told her plenty. It had many uses, the most valued being the creation of memories, a skill treasured by legacy clans. Even then, a single memory took ages to craft, and the being before her created four in minutes. 'Gods… are these what I think they were?' Her heart burned with anticipation.
"Come on, child, it matters not what you know of sorcery, grasp these weapons, they will help you greatly in destroying the hearts of the giants."
Elizabeth nodded and stepped toward the first sword. The moment she touched the handle, it shrank, fitting her grip perfectly. It felt like she had just attached another limb, the sword was balanced and flawless, and she felt powerful just by holding it.
[You have received a memory.]
Excitement surged. This was her first memory, one she had gotten for free to boot, well not exactly free but without facing a nightmare creature. She dismissed the thought and reached for the next swords.
[You have received a memory.]
[You have received a memory.]
[You have received a memory.]
Rethen smiled. "For one who does not know sorcery, you seem quite excited to receive an artifact."
Elizabeth smiled back, "You have no idea…"
"Go on then, I wish you luck on your journey."
Rethen turned back to its harp and resumed playing. Again no sound came. Strange, she had heard it clearly earlier, though only in her mind, was it linked to Rethen's ability to communicate mentally? And Rethen had said he was exhausted, that would explain why she could not hear it. Whatever, she did not care about the harp's workings. She was on a mission.
She left and walked toward one of the obsidian pillars. As she walked, she summoned her runes to check the memories.
Name: ElizabethTrue Name: -Rank: AspirantSoul Core: Dormant
Memories: [The Thumb of Rethen], [The Index Finger of Rethen], [The Middle Finger of Rethen], [The Pinky of Rethen]
Attributes: [Split Spirit], [Siren of the Sea], [Spirited]
Aspect: [Ocean Maiden]
Aspect Description: [A being that tends to the ocean, protects the ocean, lives for the ocean, hears the voice of the ocean, and is the voice of the ocean.]
'What weird names these are…' She knew that memories created through sorcery could sometimes be named by their creator, but most of the time it was the Spell that applied the runes. She was fairly certain the Spell had named these. Well, it did not matter. She focused on the memory to bring forward its rune.
Memory: [The Thumb of Rethen]
Memory Rank: Sacred
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Tool
For a moment, Elizabeth's brain froze. She did not believe her eyes. In front of her were runes saying she had a Sacred Memory.
'A Sacred Memory!? How in tarnation do I have a Sacred Memory as my first memory?'
Memories were ranked according to a strict hierarchy: Dormant, Awakened, Ascended, Transcendent, Supreme, Sacred, and Divine. You could get a memory based on the nightmare creature you fought that also followed a strict hierarchy: Dormant, Awakened, Fallen, Corrupted, Great, Cursed, and Unholy.
To obtain a Sacred Memory, one had to fight a Cursed Nightmare, a being so unimaginably strong it was considered a calamity, a being closest to a god. And even if someone somehow managed to kill one, the Spell still did not guarantee a Memory.
Not that fighting one was recommended, heck if you were unfortunate enough to meet one you could consider yourself dead. Fighting a Cursed Being was like fighting a god, so killing one was impossible. Yet here she was, holding a Sacred Memory as her first.
'Rethen had said he was weakened by the chains, could he truly be a Cursed Being… wait, since he is not corrupted, more like a Sacred Being?' Her curiosity about who Rethen truly was increased. She did not completely buy what he said about being a musician of the gods, but she put those thoughts aside for now.
Growing more excited, she turned and looked toward the memory's description.
Memory Description: [Nether was the last born of the -Unknown-, but he fell in love with the goddess of black skies, their love almost bore fruit if not for the curse imposed by the other gods. Angry, he waged a war against them, only to lose everything. Cast away into the depths of the underworld, Nether created his first creation, trying desperately to form life. All he accomplished in the end was to create a false fruit of their love.]
Memory Enchantments: [Liberator]
When she read the description, she tilted her head in confusion. 'Who is Nether?' For some reason, no matter how hard she tried, she could not think of anything that reminded her of who this Nether was. And it did not help that the Spell refused to translate the runes fully.
'How annoying…'
She tried to understand what "-Unknown-" referred to but no matter how long she stared at the rune, it refused to be translated. She had never heard of a case like this, so it likely was not common. Or maybe it was completely unique to her. After all, she was the first person to possess a Sacred Memory.
Whoever they were, they had apparently been in a relationship with a god… but the description explained nothing about the Memory's ability. And it was a Tool-type Memory, not a Weapon. She was slightly surprised by the memory type, she had expected it to be a weapon, after all, it was a sword.
'Wait… don't tell me it's one of those single-use tools…'
If the tool only served a purpose in destroying the heart of a giant and that was it, she felt slightly reluctant to part with these beautiful gifts she had just received. She let out a sigh, but it was more important to be freed from the nightmare than remain here forever. Still, it was sad to separate from them.
She looked at the other memories as well. Just as she expected, they were all Tool-type and of the same rank.
'Urgh, why…?' She really did not want to part with these beautiful things anytime soon.
'Hmm, the descriptions are different.' Compared to the first, this one had a different story.
Memory: [The Index Finger of Rethen]
Memory Rank: Sacred
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [Nether was satisfied with his creation, until he wasn't. The creation was imperfect and ugly, unworthy of being the fruit of their love, so he cast it aside. Later, he returned with the carcass of the true fruit of their love, and using its essence, he created a semblance of life. The creation was no longer ugly, yet it remained imperfect.]
Memory Enchantments: [Liberator]
'Huh… a continuation of the last description.' But what did all this have to do with Rethen and freeing him?
She glanced at the next description.
Memory: [The Middle Finger of Rethen]
Memory Rank: Sacred
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [The goddess of black skies sensed a small part of her divinity being taken from her. Searching for its cause, she found the horrible thing Nether had created, a false fruit between Nether and herself. Nether hoped she would be glad and happy because of his creation, but the goddess felt only disgust.]
Memory Enchantments: [Liberator]
Already invested, she turned toward the last memory's description.
Memory: [The Pinky of Rethen]
Memory Description: ["Your very existence is a mistake," the goddess of black skies said. "You are nothing but an insult to what we had." Rethen looked at his world, his reason for living, his very essence of existence. "Oh mother… why don't you love me?"]
The moment Elizabeth read the last part, her eyes widened.